History: The History of the World in Ceramics with Terry Bloxham

Our guest speaker, Terry Bloxham, will be focusing on our shared ceramic heritage, and the knowledge of global history that can be derived from them. She will be looking at three historic natural clay types found throughout the world. She will also explore the types of decoration that have been used on the ceramic products. All of these clay types and decoration became shared globally through trade, through war and through commercial enterprise.

We will be focusing on:

1. The introduction of the painted tin-glaze ceramic industry in medieval Italy from war and trade connections from the Middle East.

2. The development of a decorative lead-glaze technique made famous in medieval Italy through The Crusades and then re-exported to the Middle East.

3. The fascination with Chinese porcelain in the medieval West and its re-discovery in Saxony in the early 18th century.

4. The development of the British ceramic industry from the Middle Ages, Josiah Wedgwood, English ‘true’ porcelain and the 18th-19th century domination of England in the ceramic market.